The moon has not been visible for most of the evenings this week because it is rising in the morning and setting in the afternoon. Each day the moon rises and sets a little later such that eventually it will rise at sunset and set at sunrise. When this happens, we enjoy a full moon. When we do not see the moon all day it is called new moon.

The moon rises and sets at different times each day because it revolves around the earth and the earth is rotating on its axis. The moon makes one revolution around the earth every 29.5 days. So every 29 days or so, we have a full moon.

We only see the moon when sunlight reflects off its surface. So when the moon gets between the sun and the earth, the side of the moon facing the earth cannot be seen because there is no sunlight reflecting off the side of the moon facing the earth.

Conversely, when the moon is opposite the earth from the sun, the sun shines directly on the side of the moon facing the earth. This is called a full moon, because we can see the entire one side of the moon.

Click here to learn more about the phases of the moon.

Click here to find out when the moon will rise and set for any location on any day.